Curious Killed The Cat
by Aluthoris
Summary: The care of a litter of kittens falls into Sebastian's lap. The servants fall in love, Ciel never has to come into contact with them, all seems well. But Sebastian, cat person or not, is still a demon. The issue is, his cruelty doesn't go as unnoticed as he thinks it does.


"Elizabeth is requesting your presence, young master." Sebastian told him, not looking up from the letter. Ciel sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Can't we another day?"

"She claims it's urgent, master."

"Fine."

When they arrived, no one came to greet them, and they found Lizzie in the hall, sobbing into her maids shoulder.

"Elizabeth!" Ciel exclaimed, hand reaching out hesitantly. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Oh Ciel~!" She cried, running to collapse into his arms instead, nearly toppling both of them. "It's so horrible!"

Perplexed, he looked to his butler for help, but Sebastian merely shrugged. Paula quietly cleared her throat, watching Lizzie carefully.

"May I take them to see, ma'am?" Lizzie sniffled, stepping back to look at her maid with puffy eyes.

"I suppose that's the best way, yes."

At the threshold to the living room, Ciel hesitated. What could have possibly caused Lizzie such distress? he wondered.

In it's center, lay a pile of extravagant blankets, with the tiny bodies of many kittens climbing around blindly on them. It looked rather like an infestation, with a spattering of black dots around the edges, but a mass of dark fur mobbed together in the center. But when he looked closer, he realized why. In the middle of their carefully made bed, lay the corpse of the kitten's mother.

Quietly pondering their fate, Ciel counted the blobs of darkness. At least five. Without their mother's milk, surely they'd simply die? While it seemed a tad inconsequential to him, Lizzie had always been rather sensitive to the death of wildlife.

Having followed them in despite Paula's warning, Lizzie burst into another loud fit of sobbing.

"Since when did you even have a cat?" He asked incredulously, and probably too harshly, considering.

"She rescued the stray last week." Paula explained gently, rubbing Lizzie's back. "We really did our best to bring it back to health, but I'm afraid it couldn't survive the birth.

"So that's it then? Some ca-" Ciel cut himself off with a sneeze. He attempted to continue, but soon began struggling to breathe at all.

"Young master, I do believe your allergies are acting up, may I suggest you wait outside?"

He trudged out, glaring daggers at Sebastian as he went.

Now free to inspect the creatures without Ciels judgement, Sebastian knelt by the litter in awe.

"And you say you only took it in a week ago? It's marvelously well fed for that." His voice was distant , preoccupied with admiring the kitten hanging by it's claws from his finger.

"Well of course!" Lizzie squeaked. "I took ever such good care of her. Or at least I tried..." Her lip trembled and another fit threatened.

"It's just as well, the kittens wouldn't have survived if you hadn't."

Through the tears, Lizzie's face glowed. "Really?"

"Yes. I imagine none of them would have survived the birth otherwise. But, Elizabeth..."

"Lizzie, please, call me Lizzie.",she sniffed delicately into her hanky.

"Lizzie, whatever do you plan for them? Surely you can't keep all of them."

"Well, you see," Lizzie peaked up at him through her lashes. Her dainty fingers worried at the lace edging the damp silk, "I was wondering if you could look after them."

Sebastian looked up, his kitten-adoration bubble having been burst. "You must know we can't do that Lizzie. My master's allergy would make that unwise", He replaced the kittens he cradled to the blanket.

"Oh, but I couldn't possibly keep them! After how I failed their poor mother… Oh!" She collapsed to the floor as she began to sob again. "Please Sebastian! I don't know anyone who could do a better job than you. They deserve better than what I could ever give them, and you always know exactly what to do."

"Well, I /am/ one hell of a butler." He mumbled. "But I simply cannot justify putting my master's health at risk."

Tears threatening, she pouted at him for almost a solid minute.

"Okay..." she relented. "I-I, I'll find someone else. Somehow..."

Together, they returned to the hall to find Ciel.

"So?" He asked as they returned. Lizzie just looked at him, puzzled. "What do you intend to do with them?"

"I. I'm not sure. But I couldn't possibly be trusted with them." She said wringing her hands.

Ciel opened his mouth to ask why, but Sebastian interrupted him.

"She was hoping the Phantomhive manor could be their new home." He informed in a gentle tone. "But I assume you would be unwilling. Due to your allergy, of course."

Lizzie sniffled. "I do hope we can find them a nice home personally. It just wouldn't do to have them separated in a shelter." she mused aloud. Ciel glared at Sebastian, placing a comforting hand on his fiancée's shoulder.

"Do you really know no one else who could take them in?" She looked up at him, eyes shining. "Well, I suppose we could manage."

"But young master-" Sebastian interjected.

"It can just, stay in your office or something." Ciel waved him off.

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" Lizzie tackled him in a hug. "You won't regret this, I promise!"

The Phantomhive earl twitched, glaring daggers at the box emanating a series of high pitched noises. Perhaps he could claim to have been in a carriage accident, with no casualties except the annoying creatures.

Without a word, Sebastian pulled the container onto his lap, folding his hand inside the air hole. The squeaking quietened considerably. Ciel sneered at his butler, who had now taken on a look of serenity.

"These will need a considerable amount of my attention, young master. I'm afraid it may interfere with my duties."

"Don't pretend to be so analytic about this, Sebastian. It doesn't suit you to be so dishonest."

The demon smirked. "I suppose I'm not exactly displeased with the situation." Ciel glared, his nose still red from earlier. "But I am concerned with it's logistics. To keep them from causing trouble, I will have to invest considerable time in them. It's certain the servants can't be trusted with the task."

"Shouldn't be a problem for you though, should it?" Ciel looked at him from the side of his eyes. "You are one hell of a butler after all."

The morning sun glowed through Sebastian's office window. It's amber glow lit up the basket of small creatures on his floor, making them stir.

He checked his pocket watch, concluding it was time to feed them. Best do it before the earl woke, afterall. In the kitchen, he found Bardroy asleep, though thankfully he had prepared the kittens supplementary milk formula first. Seeing no particular need to wake him, Sebastian simply returned to his office with the milk and a collection of syringes.

As he re-entered, the collection of young cats greeted him with half formed meows. They were still so helpless, their eyes not even open yet. Sebastian supposed they were premature, based on their size and their mother's condition. It was of no matter, he'd manage either way.

Lifting the darkest kitten first, Sebastian cradled it in his hand. It was an almost entirely black cat, whose fur shone bronze in the light of dawn. The blue in its eyes was electrified by the harsh light over its face, but otherwise they could have been confused for grey. Under its chin was a teardrop shaped spot of white fur, accentuating the rest of its dark colouring.

Still so small it fit in his hand entirely, it relaxed into him, taking the hardened demon by surprise. Without protest, it allowed him to ease it's jaw open and place the foreign pointed metal stick in its mouth.

As he crouched there feeding the defenseless being, Sebastian was overcome with a sense of wonder. They truly were remarkable creatures. So soft. So trusting. So beautiful, though they were yet to develop the grace typical of their older relatives. They _were _learning rather quickly though, he had to place a little ginger cat back onto the blankets several times. Presuming this was good for it's development, he made no attempt to stop it from trying to escape further. It even made him chuckle once as it attempted to climb him at a remarkable speed for it's age.

Needless to say, the process of feeding them took longer than he had anticipated. Simply put, he hadn't expected to be in such awe of them.

"Oh dear," Sebastian said, checking his pocket watch again. "Better get a move on."

He headed to the kitchen to prepare his master's breakfast.

"Do you think master's gonna name them?" Finny's voice came from within.

Quietly, Sebastian entered, gathering supplies. He'd have to find something simple this morning, though he considered that the earl was without a proper right to feel inconvenienced. He had been the one to offer to take the litter in the end.

"Dunno, I thought he didn't like cat's too much." Bardroy leaned back against the central table, lounging there.

"He's allergic, of course he doesn't!" Mey-Rin's was fiddling with the dishes, but looking behind her to join the conversation.

"Ya think he'll let us name them?" Finny sat up where he was, cross-legged on the bench of the centre table.

"Hey, what's that noise?" Bardroy straightened, looking for the source of a whistling noise he'd just noticed. He followed it to the stove, where Sebastian was boiling a kettle. "Oh! Sebastian, I-uh, didn't hear you come in." He scratched the back of his neck, sitting up completely. The other two quickly rightened themselves too, poor Mey-Rin having been so startled she nearly dropped the plate she was cleaning.

Sebastian sighed. "Good morning." He smiled with his mouth closed. "I've posted your jobs for today in your dining room. It's important that you can finish them today in the _least _destructive way possible, as I'll preoccupied with caring for the new arrivals, is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" They responded in unison.

"You're dismissed." Ciel finished, after Sebastian had taken him through his morning.

"But young master, you've still to go through your morning mail." Sebastian tilted his head. "Was there something you would like to handle without my assistance?"

"I can sort my own letters, Sebastian." Ciel began organising his writing utensils, all but ignoring his butler. "Besides, I can't stand that glow you have about you. Those mangy animals can't possibly have affected your mood this much, can they?"

"They _are _exquisite beings."

Ciel sighed. "Get out of my sight. I'll call on you if I require assistance."

Sebastian bowed. "As you wish, young master."

Faster than expected, Sebastian ran out of maintenance tasks to complete. After he'd triple checked the condition of the manor, he checked his pocket watch. He cursed himself, it'd been three hours since he last fed any of the litter.

"That won't do at all." He mumbled, heading for his office. "I really must take more care with them."

Again, they greeted him as he came in, the ginger cat nearly being crushed under the door as it'd ran to meet him. The process of feeding them was more streamlined now, although Sebastian found to his mild concern it was still an awe inducing experience. A few of them attempted to climb into his lap, other's headbutted his legs looking for attention. _Perhaps, _he thought, _my young master may have been correct. These creatures hold far too much of an effect on my emotions. _

The first few weeks passed frustratingly slowly for everyone involved. Ciel grew resentful of the kittens as Sebastian grew infatuated with them. Several times, Sebastian had caught the servants sneaking into his room to play with the young things. A couple of times, he'd even turned a blind eye to it. They couldn't be blamed after all, the cats had grown into a diverse set of graceful felines. As it stood however, they didn't much trust the other servants. They had begun to recognize Sebastian as a care-giver of all forms, and he'd taken the time to train them in basic commands, making his job of looking after them considerably easier.

Currently, Sebastian was watching them play amongst themselves. Specifically, the boisterous ginger cat that was tumbling with a more timid tortoiseshell. As it's sibling cowered away, the ginger - who had been aptly dubbed Ginger by the servants - misjudged it's pounce, hitting a bookshelf face first instead. It walked away unaffected, but it had sparked a thought. Just how lacking in self preservation were these creatures?

He pondered the question more than he probably should have. But then, the earl only ever complained about their presence, despite having not laid eyes on them since he'd taken them in. And Lizzie hadn't come to visit them in some time either. Hmm.

On the off occasion, Sebastian had been taking the cats outside for the sake of some fresh air.

Today however, with the urge to satisfy a curiosity, he took them to a second floor balcony. When he released them from their carrier on the balcony floor, they erupted out, eager to explore. Most of them headed straight for the gaps in the railing, peaking over the edge in wonder. Save for the cowardly little tortoiseshell, who hung back at Sebastian's heels. In his best attempt to ensure the kittens had been getting enough exercise, he'd tied a feather quill to a piece of string, which he'd brought with him now. In a playful mood, Ginger ran for it as expected. For a while, he dragged it back and forth in the middle of the floor. Once or twice, another cat attempted to attack the toy, but Ginger fought them off until he was left alone to murder the string. Gradually, Sebastian brought the string closer to the railing. Oblivious, Ginger continued to fling himself into each attack. Testing fate, Sebastian dangled the feather in between a gap in the railings. With an enthusiastic butt wiggle, Ginger pounced for it…

And missed.

There was a horrible cut-off squeal, ending with a small thud. Sebastian looked over the railing, observing Ginger's now twisted form lying on the gravel. Disappointment etched his features. He'd hoped the cat would have instinct enough to have stopped before the fall.

Ah well, never mind.

At the exact wrong moment, Finny emerged from the back door and a cry broke through the air. Sighing, Sebastian gathered the remaining cats, preparing for the fanfare that was about to take place.

"Oh Sebastian! Come quick, it's horrible!" Mey-Rin all but fell to her knees pleading with him as he re-emerged in the hall.

At a greatly unnecessary speed, she lead him to the body of the kitten he'd just tricked into falling off the balcony. Finnian was crouched over it, sobbing. Bardroy was beside him, rubbing his back but tearing up himself.

"Must've fallen off." He mused quietly, looking up at the platform above them.

"Yes, I was just coming out to deal with that." Sebastian adjusted his gloves, looking towards the manor in want of supplies.

The crying quickly died off. Bemused, Sebastian stared back as the servants stared at him, dumb founded.

"But Sebastian," Finny began sniffling. "Aren't you sad?"

"Well of course. This is an inconvenience that threatens to delay lunch. I must ask that while I dispose of the body, you attend to preparations." Mey-Rin looked between Finny and Bardroy, as if she thought she might be misunderstanding.

"R-Right." Bardroy said finally, standing straight. "You can count on us."

Sebastian nodded as he walked away, leaving the servants in a stunned silence.

For the following week, Sebastian often returned to his office to find the kittens missing. Whenever he looked, he would find them with one of the servants. Often times, all conversation would cease as he entered. If he asked, and he rarely did, they would babble on about wanting to spend time with them, claiming they thought he'd be busy taking care of the manor and would appreciate the help. Once, Finny saw it fit to go through the litter one by one, explaining the names they'd given them and why.

There was Luna, the mostly black cat Sebastian had first taken a liking to, who was named after her blue-grey eyes.

Tiger, for his brown tiger-like markings and attitude.

Smokey, a black and white female who apparently had an affinity for anything smoked.

And Boo, the easy to frighten tortoiseshell, whom Finny despaired to say was heavily picked on by her peers.

Each night, Sebastian would insist on taking the kittens back to his room. When he claimed he didn't trust the trio with them, he wasn't being entirely untruthful; they hadn't the best record in terms of domestic competency.

But in all honesty, they'd become a source of entertainment in an otherwise dull routine. The Phantomhive manor hadn't heard word from the Queen in some time, leaving Sebastian with nothing of much importance to do.

As Sebastian came to collect them one day after dinner, he found the servants fawning over the one with the brown markings, Tiger.

"Whatever is the matter?" Sebastian asked as he entered, setting the cat carrier to one side.

"He right near crawled into the oven, so he did!" Mey-Rin exclaimed, holding the cat above her face in a scolding manner. "Honestly Tiger, you're lucky you've nine lives aren't ya?"

Sebastian chuckled. "You can't really believe that, can you?"

"Swear it's true," Bardroy said, as he was working towards cooling the oven, as if it would help now. "Had one growing up. Shoulda been dead from all manner of things 'fore it was hit by carriage. Believe what you will, but ah say it's real."

Out of tasks once more, Sebastian watched Tiger as he slept. Nine lives? It was preposterous. They were only mortal creatures afterall. Still, could it be true?

The cat yawned and stretched in it's sleep, disturbing Luna as he did. Hm, he supposed it was something to do.

Placing Tiger carefully in his waistcoat pocket, Sebastian began his ascent to the balcony

where Ginger had failed his test what felt like so long ago.

"One." He released the kitten over the balcony.

Squeak. Thud.

Ensuring he was alone first, he leapt down to retrieve the cat. It wasn't breathing.

"Well." Sebastian said with a sigh. "Suppose that settles it then. One life it is."

He made his way back inside to find a shovel.

No one said a word about Tiger's disappearance. But now, when Sebastian walked the halls at night, he would often encounter one of the servants. Claiming they were unable to sleep, they'd ask him why he never seemed to sleep. It was a curious dance they'd been doing for many years, Sebastion supposed it had to end eventually. They made no attempt to hide their discussing him.

"Finnian said you were up yesterday, too. Can I get you some chamomile tea, maybe sir?"

Mey-Rin had told him one night. Her tendency to break everything she touched was easing, and he wondered if she'd always had the option to better her inclination towards disaster.

"Just curious," Finny broke the silence one morning, as he absently tended to the garden. Or at least, dragged a rake around, looking like he was tending to the garden. "Did you see how Ginger fell?"

"He stood too close to the edge, before one of his siblings startled him."

Finny nodded solemnly. "Why was he even on the balcony?"

"They'd been curious about the halls since they came," Sebastian paused, looking at the rose he'd been pruning. It may as well have been bald. "I simply wanted to grant them more freedom."

"Huh." Finny stared at his half formed pile of leaves. "Curiosity killed the cat, I guess."

"I suppose so."

Another thought had occured to him.

With Smokey in his pocket, Sebastian headed back for the kitchen. It wasn't long before breakfast, so he moved quickly.

"Where you off too, sir?" Bardroy called down the hall, walking to meet him.

"Kitchen." Sebastian said, not stopping. "It's time to prepare master's breakfast."

"Ah well, since I'm up anyway, mind a hand with that?" Bardroy said, speeding up to walk backwards in front of him.

"That won't be necessary, thank you." His jaw almost dropped.

"But sir, I'm, well I'm _the chef_. Isn't it my job to at least help out in the kitchen?"

"I'm preparing an especially difficult dish this morning." Sebastian checked his pocket watch. "I should want no distractions."

"But-"

"That's an _order_, Bardroy." He growled.

The cook stopped in his tracks. Wordlessly, he watched Sebastian walk away.

With a blueberry breakfast cake in the oven, Sebastian reopened the door a crack.

Releasing Smokey onto a nearby table, he continued preparations for Ciel's breakfast, boiling a kettle, gathering supplies. But he kept his eyes on the cat, who'd jumped from the table and onto the floor, exploring. As any young creature is, she found the first thing in her familiar environment that had changed. Unfortunately, at floor level, this was the open oven.

As Sebastian had somewhat expected, with the oven on such a low heat, Smokey climbed inside without fear.

_Another failure. _He sighed.

He closed the door.

Later that day, when he came to collect the remaining two, the servants met his presence with cold shoulders. They coddled the kittens, holding them closer the more he approached.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take them upstairs now." He extended his hand.

"Well actually," Finny said, looking up to hold his gaze. "Ciel says the should sleep down here now." Sebastian raised his eyebrows.

"It's true," Mey-Rin joined, rubbing Boo's ears. "We said they'd been disappearing and he's worried it'll upset Lady Elizabeth. So he figures they're better with us, since there's more of us."

"Hmm." Sebastian said, noticeably miffed.

"Ask 'im if you want." Bardroy glared at the table even as Luna licked his hand. "Guess he trusts us more with their safety, or sumthin."

"How strange. I suppose I must ask him why he would think something so misguided."

No one reacted.

When he didn't take the hint to leave, Mey-Rin muttered,

"Yes, why ever wouldn't he trust the lives of innocent creatures with a _demon_."

Returning the favour, Sebastian left without further remark.

The cats are still in the kitchen the next day when he comes to make breakfast. Both Finny and Bardroy were slumped over the table, but Mey-Rin sat awake with a cup of tea.

_So they _do _have a rota. _Sebastian thought bitterly.

A letter from the queen had finally arrived this morning, so Sebastian found himself with errands to run once more.

"I've things to attend to before I leave with the young master, would you like assistance with his morning meal?"

"I can manage." She didn't look up from the small creatures lying on the table.

"Well then." Nothing. "I must be going."

"Good riddance."

Pausing, Sebastian began to finally consider the implications of this development. Their trust had been broken. While they'd certainly began to be considerably more independent recently, they weren't likely to stand around taking notes from him either. He supposed it wouldn't make too much difference, not really, but it'd certainly put a damper on the manor's general mood.

Perhaps it was for the best, he couldn't have the servants of his master's manor being naive enough to trust a demon, after all.

He simply had to trust their loyalty to Ciel would drive them to keep working. Continuing to care for his home and, more importantly, keep them defending it.


End file.
